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Aqui Luchamos, Aqui Estamos: Reaffirming our Commitment to Activism and Resistance through Scholarship
The third annual Latina/Latino Studies graduate student conference was held February 23-25, 2007 at the Levis Faculty Center with an attendance of approximately 200 participants, not only from the University of Illinois, but from institutions across the nation, including the University of Texas, University of Minnesota, University of California, California State University, University of Indiana, University of Notre Dame, and George Washington University. A range of interdisciplinary topics were covered, including: community health and community practices; transnational sexualities; power and the intersections of race, gender, and class; redefining justice through social movements; reclaiming space and politicizing popular cultures; Latina/o participatory action in Illinois; developing a new Chicana/Chicano epistemology; and strategies for graduate student resistance in higher education.
The objective of the conference was “to explore the historical and cultural processes that affect Latinas/os in the United States and to contribute to the understanding of Latina/o communities in the United States by promoting interdisciplinary analyses of shared social, political and cultural histories, and educational realities of Latinas/os.” The focus of the conference on activism and resistance through scholarship was proposed by the organizing committee as a way to commemorate and conclude the 10th Anniversary of the Latina/Latino Studies Program. In this way, the focus of the conference served to acknowledge and carry on the 1992 Latina/o student movement on the University of Illinois campus that lead to the creation of the Latina/Latino Studies Program and an increase in Latina/o faculty, staff, and students.
The keynote address was presented by Dr. Juanita Díaz-Cotto, Associate Professor of Sociology, Women’s Studies and Latin American and Caribbean Studies at the University of New York, Binghamton. Dr. Diaz-Cotto introduced the conference by bridging the gap between theory and practice. She linked issues of activism and resistance with the intersections of gender and sexuality. Dr. Diaz-Cotto not only provided us with an intellectual lens in bringing together activism and scholarship, but shared with us her experiences as a Boricua activist and as an Afro-Latina lesbian.
The Graduate student committee is already making preliminary preparations for the next Latina/Latino Studies Graduate Student Conference. We anticipate an equally dynamic conference in 2009. |
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